Opposed
by minisnezza
Summary: Set 2 years before the events of Divergent, this story follows the lives of 5 initiates, Amy, Juliette, Chris, Jess and Michael, all in different factions. They are divergent, so their lives just got a whole lot more dangerous...
1. Chapter 1- The morning before

**Set 2 years before the events of Divergent, this is the story of 5 initiates- Juliette, Amy, Michael, Jessica and Chris.**

**Chapter 1**

She woke up and stared at the black ceiling above her. Butterflies, no, snakes, were already crawling up her insides. Today was aptitude test day. She sat up, noticing it was still dark outside and turned on her lamp, knowing she would never get back to sleep. She stared at the white walls, the black carpet, her black and white duvet, and thought that her life was like this- black and white, no colour to be seen anywhere.

_This is not the way I should be thinking! _she berated herself.

_But then, Candors should be honest- with themselves as well as with others,_ a sly voice inside her head replied. She closed her eyes tightly and pressed her fingers to her temple.

_I guess I'll find out today._ _Come on Juliette. You may be Candor, but you can still be patient._

She sighed, resigning herself to wait for dawn.

* * *

Jessica woke just as dawn broke over the window of her room. She admired how the wood shone as the light glanced off it, and sighed because of what dawn meant. She knew she only had one more morning of peace before she left. She got up and began to prepare to leave. Amity was the furthest faction out from the city, and she would have to leave soon. She chose a pair of red cut-off trousers and a yellow tank top and padded on bare feet across the wooden boards towards breakfast, humming and smiling on the outside. Inside was a different story. She was angry, she was calm, she was two opposites- black and white.

_One more day until I'm out of this place._

* * *

Amy groaned as she rolled over and looked at the clock blearily. It was an hour before she needed to get up. Pulling the blue covers over her head, she grumpily thought that, logically, she should go back to sleep, but that wasn't going to happen. She sighed as she wished that she didn't have to have an aptitude test. That no-one had to have one. Why divide people when they were better together?

_That is he sort of thinking that is stupid and will get you into trouble if you say a word!_ she shouted at herself, realising that she was almost wishing that the factions didn't exist. She breathed slowly. They were logical, made sense to prevent conflict. She threw the covers off, holding her hands in front of her; blue tinted by the blinds, and sighed. Today she would know.

* * *

The door opened and he heard footsteps as his mother sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook his shoulder to wake him.

"Michael, wake up. I believe you need a haircut before choosing today," she told him, smiling gently before leaving, turning the light on as she passed. He rubbed his hair, long for Abnegation, and sat up, wondering why his chest was clenching. It was today- when he would find out just how selfless he was- or how selfish. With the grey robe that he pulled over his head, he would be no-one. Was no-one who he really wanted to be? Or was he a part of a bigger whole, a whole that needed selfless people to repair the hole in the whole?

* * *

"Get up man! We're gonna be late if you don't get that lazy ass out of bed!" a voice screamed and Chris groaned. Someone jumped on him heavily. "Alright dude, I'm up!" he grunted, feebly lashing out at thin air. He emerged from the covers to see Zeke, his arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"You have five minutes before the train leaves," he spat, trying to look angry but his lips twitching when he saw Chris with the black sheets tangles around his waist.

"Look, you go, I'll catch you guys up," Chris told Zeke, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Zeke rolled his eyes and walked out the room, yelling "Five minutes!" over his shoulder. Chris glanced at the rocky walls and sighed, throwing on his smart black pants and black t-shirt he had put out last night. Today he would know.

* * *

**I know I'm setting myself a real challenge to write 5 different plot lines! I have no idea if it will work and I'm really gonna need your input. I've decided to write in 3rd person as it will be (hopefully) less confusing. Please tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2- The tests

**Chapter 2**

They all sat in the cafeteria, trying not to look scared. Chris was pretending to sleep on his arms, Zeke sitting on the table and rolling his eyes next to him, whilst balancing a knife on his finger for as long as possible. Jessica sat with her friends, smiling as they played the clapping game that was tradition whilst waiting for the test, clamping her mouth tightly to avoid saying what she thought of it. Juliette sat, watching her two best friends Kat and Will having an animated argument and chiming in occasionally. But her mind was elsewhere. Amy was reading, well, looking at a book, not taking in a single word and worrying about what she would face in the test. Michael just sat, on the outside, his face was a mask of calm, but inside he was worrying. He was then worrying about worrying, because wasn't Abnegation supposed to be about looking away from yourself? Wasn't he being self-centred?

"Are you alright Michael?" asked Tobias in a low voice. He had seen through Michael's mask. He smiled at Tobias.

"I'm fine, are you ok?" he asked, seeing Tobias was slightly ashen-faced. Before Tobias could answer, the doors opened and a lady came in with a sheet of paper, where she read out 5 names.

"Abnegation: Tobias Eaton. Amity: Leila Fields. Candor: Juliette Clearglass. Dauntless: Ezekiel Pedrad. Erudite: Cara Connaison". The five 16 year-olds stood and left, to cheers from Dauntless, choruses of 'good luck's from Erudite and Amity, 'see you later' from Candor, and nods from the Abnegation table.

Juliette was shown to a room with glass walls and a reclining dentist's chair in the centre hooked up to a computer. A Dauntless man walked in and introduced himself as George. He hooked her up to the machine and then himself.

"Drink this," he told her, handing her a vial of liquid. Knowing it was to do with the test, she took it and downed it silently.

She was in a room, facing a table. On it was a knife and a piece of cheese.

"Choose," a voice told her. She looked around wildly for the source, but couldn't see where the disembodied voice was coming from.

"Choose!" the voice came again. Juliette looked at the table. It was stupid to take either when she had no idea what she would need it for. She picked them both up.

Suddenly, her blood chilled as she heard growling from behind her. She turned to see a very angry-looking dog advancing on her slowly. She knew about dogs and realised what the cheese and knife would be for. But she didn't want to kill it when it hadn't attacked her yet and she didn't want to try to feed it only to have it eat her arm as well. So she tried to calm her beating heart because dogs could smell fear, and she sat down, making herself look less fierce and avoiding its eyes. And, miraculously, it stopped growling and wagged its tail. She smiled and it nuzzled her hand, begging to be petted. She fed it the cheese, rubbing its head and smiling

I heard a scream and looked around at a girl, who shouted "puppy!" and reached out for it. Its teeth were bared and it was racing towards the girl. Without thinking, Juliette raced after it, still holding the knife. She threw herself in-between the dog and the girl and as it jumped and held out the knife, closing her eyes. She loved dogs, but some were too dangerous to live. She felt the impact of its body on the knife and knew that the girl was safe.

When she opened her eyes, the scene had dissolved and she was on a bus. A man came up to her.

"Do you know this man?" he asked, angrily pointing at a picture. It was of a man that Juliette vaguely recognised and the headline said 'murderer apprehended'. She knew that, as a Candor, she should immediately tell him that yes, she knew him. On the other hand he looked very angry, and she wasn't sure if he'd like her answer. But she stood her ground, and answered as truthfully as she could whilst keeping him calm.

"I don't know. He looks familiar but… I think I may know him."

The man's whole demeanour changed. He looked desperate.

"If you did, you could help me!" he told her.

"How could I help you?" she asked, shaking her head.

"You can save me!"

"How?! How could I possibly help you?"

"Because I need to know if someone knows him," he replied brokenly. She felt a little guilty and then muttered "I think I do. I'm sorry." He looked happy.

The scene changed yet again and she was in a garden.

"What do you want?" the disembodied voice was back.

"What do you want to be?!" even more insistent.

"I… I don't know!" she shouted back.

"Choose! What is your goal?" She thought about all the factions.

"I want to be happy. But I want to be honest, I want to be selfless, I want to be intelligent _and_ I want to be brave!" she told it, blinking back tears. The scene dissolved and she found herself back in the mirrored room, blinking at George, who looked shocked. He glanced at the corners of the room, and then looked at me.

"You've broken the system," he told her matter-of-factly. "Everyone will have to put in the results manually, which will help," he said cryptically, leaving the room and returning a few minutes later.

"I've put you down for Candor," he told her, sitting down and running a hand through his dark hair.

"What is my result?" she asked him, fearful of the answer.

"Your results were… inconclusive. You are what is called… divergent." She gasped. She had heard of this, and assumed it was a fable.

"Most Divergent show an aptitude for two factions, but you… you, Juliette, have shown aptitude for… all of the factions." Her mouth opened.

"All of them?" she whispered in horror.

"Yes. Choosing either the cheese or the knife was supposed to rule out either Amity or Dauntless. You chose both. The way you dealt with the dog was Erudite when you averted the attack, Amity when you gave it the cheese, Abnegation when you threw yourself between it and the girl, then Dauntless when you killed it. On the bus, you told the truth- Candor. But you showed discretion- not Candor. You wanted to calm him- Amity. You didn't back down- Dauntless. You wanted to help the man- Abnegation. But you needed to know how and why- Erudite. I manipulated you into the garden to try to get any kind of answer, but again, you chose all of them. You see?"

She nodded, although her mind was spinning.

"You cannot tell _anyone_ what you got. Do you understand?" She nodded again.

"_No-one. _Not your friends, not your family. There's a good chance that you can remain undetected, because the system couldn't cope with you, which means everyone will have to have their results put in manually. Stay under the radar, _don't_ show your Divergence- that is, if you're put in simulations like that, don't reveal that you know you're in one; non-Divergents cannot tell they are in a simulation. I would recommend Abnegation or Amity, where you'll be safer. Everywhere else is dangerous. But it is up to you- I can only recommend. If you choose Dauntless, you prove you are brave. If you choose Amity, you prove that you're peaceful- but these won't define you. Act like your faction. I suggest you take a moment before you rejoin your friends. It's all danger from now on."

She nodded for the third time and got up, leaving the room.

When she rejoined the Candor table, she saw that the five testers had come into the room, and were explaining that due to a fault, all results would have to be put in manually. The Erudite woman added that it would not affect the results, just that they would have to leave the room to record it. Then, she pulled out the list and read out the next five names. The testing carried on.


	3. Chapter 3- The aftermath

**N.B. The quotations from this chapter by the Erudite woman are not my own. It is from 'The Transfer- A Divergent Story' by Veronica Roth. She owns that quotation. I own my characters. She owns the world and her characters. That is the end of the disclaimer.**

**Chapter 3- The aftermath**

The Erudite woman came for the last time and held up a hand for silence. Whilst it worked for the Abnegation and Erudite but she had to shout before the Dauntless, Amity, and Candor noticed her.

"The aptitude tests are now finished," she told everyone. "Remember that you are not permitted to discuss your results with anyone, not even your friends or family. The Choosing Ceremony will be tomorrow evening at the Hub. Plan to arrive at least ten minutes before it begins. You are dismissed."

Everyone rushed toward the doors except the Abnegation table, where they waited for everyone else to leave before even getting to their feet. Zeke shouted at Chris "that means half an hour for you!" he teased as they ran for the train. Chris tried to smile back. He had a lot to think about tonight. Like working out exactly what it meant to be Divergent. And how he could have an aptitude for the faction which liked showing off, and the faction which looked only to others.

Amy sighed as she gathered in her books. She was Divergent, and she couldn't tell anyone. She wished that she could talk to another Divergent, but then she would be risking them as well as herself. So now she had to make a choice on her own. Erudite or Amity.

Jessica was unsurprised that she didn't have aptitude for Amity. The Abnegation tester had been, though, and warned her to keep it secret, forever. She thought she might have trouble with that, whether she went to Dauntless of Candor. Yes, they were about as far from Amity as you could get, but she knew she had never been a true Amity- she hated pretending to be happy all the time.

An ashen-faced Michael got up shakily, his mind racing. Which would win out- his selfless streak, which he apparently did have, or his thirst for knowledge? If he looked deep enough, he already knew what he would choose. But could he accept it?

Juliette walked home with Kat and, for once, she respected the silence that Juliette liked to keep and they walked back to the Merciless Mart without saying a word. When they reached Juliette's floor, Kat put a hand on her arm to stop her.

"Look Julie," she began. It was strange to see Kat struggling for words. "I know you're a little more… reserved than me. I know where I belong. I don't know where you're going to go, I just wanted to say that… if you do go- good luck. I know that you're gonna be awesome wherever you choose!" Kat did not lie, say things to make people feel better or even exaggerate, which was how Juliette knew that her best friend genuinely believed she'd be fine.

"Thanks, Kat," she told her, giving her a hug and bidding her goodnight. She walked off and rounded the corner before she collapsed against the smooth, black granite wall and wiped her tears away. She allowed herself a few seconds to indulge herself in sadness before sniffing loudly, wiping her cheeks to catch stray tears, and breathing deeply. She put her Candor mask back on until she reached her room, where she lay, face-down, and thought.


	4. Chapter 4- The Choosing

**So, again, I have used 'The Transfer' for a lot of the quotations and some of the action here, so that belongs to Veronica Roth, as do the characters she made up. Disclaimer stuff over, here we are:**

**Chapter 4- The choosing**

The room was filled with people from all 5 factions, talking, arguing, listening, teasing, chatting and sitting. Some of the 16-year-olds were boisterous, loud and animated like Zeke, some reserved and quiet, dark rings around their eyes. Each year, the factions took it in turns to take the Choosing Ceremony. This year, it was the Dauntless council representative, Max, who took to the floor.

"Welcome to the Choosing Ceremony," he began. "Today you will choose your factions. Until this point you have followed your parents' paths, your parents' rules. Today you will find your own path, make your own rules."

The Dauntless were nodding along with his words, but some of the other factions held disapproving looks. It was a typical Dauntless speech. "A long time ago our ancestors realized that each of us, each individual, was responsible for the evil that exists in the world. But they didn't agree on exactly what that evil was. Some said that it was dishonesty. Some said that it was ignorance, some aggression. Some said selfishness was the cause, and the last group said that it was cowardice that was to blame."

Zeke hooted loudly and the rest of Dauntless laughed, ignoring the disapproving looks from some of the other factions. Max grinned faintly before continuing.

"That is how we came by our factions: Candor, Erudite, Amity, Abnegation, and Dauntless." Max smiled. "In them we find administrators and teachers and counsellors and leaders and protectors. In them we find our sense of belonging, our sense of community, our very lives." He cleared his throat. "Enough of that. Let's get to it. Come forward and get your knife, then make your choice. First up, Zellner, Gregory." Dauntless always did the calling in opposite order, probably to annoy the Erudite. Gregory Zellner chose Amity. He smiled over at Jessica and she smiled back, knowing that they'd soon be in different factions. But which would she be in? She had only four names left until she had to decide. Dauntless or Candor? Candor or Dauntless?

"Woodson, Jessica." She made her way to the bowl, no longer smiling like she was supposed to. Almost absentmindedly, she drew the knife across her palm and turned to the Dauntless and Candor bowls. Her mind was blank. It was the thought of her parents and how upset they'd be that caused her to open her hand over the glass that was the Candor bowl. She went and stood behind the black and white-clad section. A blonde girl who had just rejoined her faction smiled at her, but it meant more than a smile from an Amity did, as they were smiling all the time.

"Seemont, Michael." He heard it as if he was underwater, from a long way away. His family would be disappointed if he chose Erudite. With tensions rising between the two factions, he would likely not see them often, maybe even ever. But Tori had told him to go with what he wanted, because he would have to live with it. He couldn't be selfless- he wasn't good enough. He could be selfless in a different way- through knowledge. With renewed confidence, he walked up to the stage, cut his palm and opened it over the Erudite water. He hoped he'd made the right decision.

Amy's hands shook and she clasped them tightly together to stop them. The name before her was called- "Pedrad, Ezekiel." And she had no idea. She had seen her faction's smirks when the Abnegation transferred to Erudite, and had thought them foolish for deliberately causing tensions. She could help in Amity. But she could in Erudite. "Page, Amelia." That was her, but she wasn't ready! She walked to the front, slowly taking the knife from Max, who smiled encouragingly at her. She readjusted her grip on the knife and clenched it until her knuckles went white. She slowly, deliberately, cut her palm. Her hand hovered between the water and the dirt. A few murmurs rose because she was taking so long. Andrew's voice came to her- _don't let them know you're Divergent or they will kill you._ She closed her eyes and opened her hand. Her blood fell in the Amity bowl.

Juliette took note of all the transfers, watched their facial expressions. The girl that looked sad when she transferred to Candor. The Abnegation boy who got a determined glint in his eye halfway to the stage. The Erudite boy who transferred to Dauntless with a dangerous and hard expression. The Erudite girl whose hand, tightly clenched to stop it shaking, opened over the Amity bowl before she opened her eyes. The Abnegation boy who transferred to Dauntless- the first in decades, who looked at someone from his old faction (presumably his father) with a hard gaze as he opened his hand.

"Clearglass, Juliette." She was perfectly composed as she made her way to the stage, accepted the knife and cut her hand. She stared at the bowls. She still had no idea- there were still five choices.

Her thoughts moved at the speed of light. She remembered the smirks that followed the Abnegation transfer to Erudite. Not Erudite then- they were too self-satisfied. She saw the Amity faction's serene smiles and peaceful expressions. She couldn't be happy like that; her thoughts were churning too much- so not Amity. She saw the grey-clothed Abnegation faction, their faces uniform, looking out. She wished she was that selfless, but knew that she was too different to blend in and look outward. She watched the black-and-white of her own faction and longed for their safety, but knew that she didn't really belong there. She probably wouldn't truly belong to any faction she chose, but with another faction she could make a different start. That left Dauntless- the faction that George had told her was most dangerous. It would take bravery to choose it. She decided that if she could do it, she could be a Dauntless.

Her hand opened. A massive cheer rose up from the Dauntless and she was slapped on the back by many as she made her way to stand behind them. She grinned as a Dauntless guy who had chosen his faction earlier (and with much bravado) slapped her on the back and winked at her.

Chris was feeling sick. "Christopher Adere." He was the last to choose. He walked briskly to the platform, not wanting to make people wait longer than they already had. He hardly registered Max's friendly smile when he passed him the knife, but he did see Zeke's sad smile. He knew what Chris would choose. Bravery and selflessness were very similar things, if you thought about it. His hand opened over the grey stones and his heart wrenched for all he'd be leaving behind. But he had to think about others, and be brave for them. He stood behind his chosen faction, ignoring the gasps- a Dauntless to Abnegation transfer was almost as unheard of as the other way round, and there were two of them this year. It took bravery to change faction, especially Dauntless and Abnegation. Maybe they were more similar than they all realised.

**So this story will actually be focussing on Juliette's storyline the most, as she is going to Dauntless, where all Veronica's characters are, but the others will be developed. Please let me know if you're interested in a particular character for me to develop and PM me if you have any ideas for them. See you next time! :)**


	5. Chapter 5- Homeward Bound

**Once again, I have relied on 'The Transfer' by Veronica Roth as a guideline for the action as well as some direct quotations, so these are not all my own words. All rights to Veronica Roth. Enjoy**

**Chapter 5- Homeward bound**

Juliette followed the swift footsteps of her new faction, her mind racing. She had to act like them at all costs- try to think like them as well. There were only six transfers to Dauntless this year- a record low, probably because of the hard initiation process in Dauntless. She caught a glance of the Abnegation boy ripping his jacket off before she was swept on by the loud tirade of Dauntless. She saw a tiny patch of white in the black clothes that surrounded her and pushed her way to it, where she found two boys from her faction running together. She had a few classes with them, but only knew the shorter one, Adam, well. They grinned at each other as the crowd spilled onto the platform. Besides the two Candor transfers and her, there was an Amity girl, an Erudite boy and the Abnegation boy, who seemed to have disappeared in the throng.

The other Dauntless let the transfers through to the front of the crowded platform, along with the other Dauntless-born initiates. Juliette knew that she had to jump on board the moving train, which she could see would draw parallel with the platform in around 30 seconds. She used that time to draw back her long brown hair into a ponytail and to get into a position ready to jump. She was right beside a Dauntless-born initiate, the one who winked at her earlier. She would probably fall flat on her face, whilst he would sail in as easily as breathing. He glanced sideways at her and grinned.

"Ready?" he asked. She nodded, determined.

"Run alongside before you jump!" he shouted as the crowd began to move. She ran.

"Three, two, one, jump!" she heard, and jumped, hanging on to a door handle and swinging herself in, surprisingly without falling flat on her face. She grabbed the hand of the amity girl, who she remembered being called Mia, and helped her in, before jumping out of the way of another Dauntless-born initiate girl.

"Thanks," the Amity girl smiled. "I'm Mia."

"Juliette," she replied. She shrugged, then stuck out her hand, which Mia shook. They were Dauntless now.

"Hey! I'm Zeke!" one of the guys called over the wind, grinning at them.

"Mia!" she shouted. Jules hesitated. She wanted to begin again. Dauntless often called themselves strange things. Now was the time to start.

"Jules!" she called back. This started off a load of shouting of names over the wind.

"Shauna!" the girl who had nearly knocked her over grinned at her.

"Lexi!"

"Ben!"

"Adam!" and "Josh!" were the two Candor boys.

"Eric!" called the Erudite boy.

"Beth!"

"Ria!"

"Jay!"

"Zach!"

"Zoë!"

"Ry!"

There were 5 boys and 5 girls from Dauntless, and the six transfers.

"Where's the Stiff?" someone shouted. Everyone shrugged.

"Maybe he's already bottled it!" Zeke bellowed. Everyone laughed.

"Hey! He must have had a reason to choose Dauntless!" I shouted back and, surprisingly, they all just shrugged.

"Here we are!" yelled Zeke, hanging out the window.

"Let the transfers go first!" Shauna shouted, and Jules and the others were pushed to the door. Jules was at the front. She saw there was a gap between the rooftop they were jumping to and the train. The train slowed down slightly, and she readied herself.

"Go!" she heard. She jumped, and for one heart-stopping moment, she thought she was going to fall. But she landed, running a couple of steps to stop herself tripping. At least she hadn't fallen over, like Eric, the Erudite boy, who was now brushing gravel from his jean-clad knees. In fact, she was the only transfer who had landed without falling over. The initiates all stood to the side, except for the Abnegation boy, who was still kneeling on the floor. One of the adults stood on the ledge at the side of the roof and addressed the whole group.

"Welcome to Dauntless!" he shouted. "Where you either face your fears and try not to die in the process, or you leave a coward. We've got a record low of faction transfers this year, unsurprisingly."

Some of the Dauntless cheered and punched the air, obviously proud of their failure.

"The only way to get into the Dauntless compound from this rooftop is to jump off this ledge," he continued, opening his arms wide. He pretended to almost fall off, his arms windmilling, before catching himself and grinning.

"As usual, I offer the opportunity to go first to our initiates, Dauntless-born or not." He jumped from the ledge and gestured to it, eyebrows raised.

Zeke, the loud, brown haired, dark-skinned Dauntless-born came forward and was gestured forward. His friends cheered him on and Shauna shouted

"go Zeke!"

He hopped up to the ledge but, in his cockiness, misjudged the jump and fell, yelling. Jules nearly gasped, but clapped her hand over her mouth before a sound could escape. Zeke's friends, however, burst into laughter and Jules could see why it was funny that the swaggering boy had fallen. It wasn't exactly a grand entrance.

The Dauntless man grinned and gestured to the ledge again. Everyone began lining up behind it and Jules and the transfers got in line. She found herself in front of Adam, second in line. The man cued her after thirty seconds, and, taking a deep breath, she dropped. The wind rushed at her and she let out an exhilarated cry before she was caught by a strong net which bounced her up again. She grabbed onto it to stop herself and crawled towards the hands reaching from the edge. She grabbed one and was pulled to the floor, where she landed, feet first, luckily, and smiled at the Dauntless council member, Max, who was grinning at her. He had dark brown skin and bruised knuckles.

"And you are…?" he asked her.

"Jules." She said, firmly.

"First transfer, Jules!" he called and Juliette heard cheers and shouts from the dauntless. This was her home now.

**Please review for any improvements and PM for characters that you like. Until next time! :)**


	6. Chapter 6- Fear

**Hello again. This is the last time I'll be relying/quoting from 'The Transfer', so after this chapter, all writing will be completely my own. Obviously, Veronica Roth does own all the characters and world, but I own mine etc. **

**Chapter 6- Fear**

She followed where he pointed to a corner and told her Amar, the guy on the roof, would join them soon. When the last jumper, the Abnegation boy, had joined them, he was greeted by Mia but her two fellow ex-Candors decided to tease him.

"It looks like he's trying not to throw up," Josh said.

"Just let it happen, man," Adam added. "We'd love to see a show. Juliette was about to tell them too shut up when the Abnegation boy got in before me, snapping at them. She smiled in satisfaction at seeing their shocked faces because an Abnegation had told them to shut up.

"Remember, he chose Dauntless for a reason," she muttered to Adam. Amar joined them, looking wild from his jump and beckoned all the initiates closer. Jules looked around for the first time, realising that Dauntless headquarters were underground.

They all stood in a semicircle by the tunnel and Amar clasped his hands.

"My name is Amar," he began. "I'm your initiation instructor. I grew up here, and three years ago, I passed initiation with flying colours, which means I get to be in charge of the newcomers for as long as I want. Lucky you."

He shifted on his feet and continued.

"Dauntless-borns and transfers do most physical training separately, so that the Dauntless-borns don't break the transfers in half right away-" At this, the Dauntless-borns on the other side of the semicircle grinned at us and each other, and Zeke winked at me. "But we're trying something different this year. The Dauntless leaders and I want to see if knowing your fears before you begin training will better prepare you for the rest of initiation. So before we even let you into the dining hall to have dinner, we're going to do some self-discovery. Follow me." Ever the loudmouth, Zeke couldn't resist a cheeky comment.

"What if I don't want to discover myself?" he asked.

Amar looked at him for him and Zeke melted back into the group of Dauntless-borns again. Jules thought that Amar could be strict and genial at any moment, and resolved to be wary of him. He led them down the dark tunnel and shoved open a door with his shoulder. They filed into a chilly and dripping room with one window in the back wall. Behind the window was another empty room with cameras in the corners… was that why George had looked in the corners after her aptitude test? The fluorescent lights, which flickered annoyingly, lit up Amar as he turned on a machine that looked like the one used in the mirrored test room.

"This is the fear landscape room," Amar told them, without even looking up. Juliette saw the line of syringes filled with liquid and thought they had to be some kind of simulation.

"A fear landscape is a simulation in which you confront your worst fears." So she was right. How was she going to keep her Divergence a secret?

"How is that possible?" Eric interrupted. "You don't know our worst fears." She knew that something was about to happen to Eric.

"Eric, right?" Amar said in a dangerous voice. Eric nodded.

"You're correct, I don't know your worst fears, but the serum I am going to inject you with will stimulate the parts of your brain that process fear, and you will come up with the simulation obstacles yourself, so to speak. In this simulation, unlike in the aptitude test simulation, you will be aware that what you are seeing is not real." Juliette tried not to seem interested in the knowledge- after all, she wasn't Erudite. At least she wasn't in danger of revealing her Divergence here. Amar continued. "Meanwhile, I will be in this room, controlling the simulation, and I get to tell the program embedded in the simulation serum to move on to the next obstacle once your heart rate reaches a particular level- once you calm down, in other words, or face your fear in a significant way. When you run out of fears, the program will terminate and you will 'wake up' in that room again with a greater awareness of your own fears."

He picked up one of the syringes and beckoned to Eric. Here was the punishment.

"Allow me to satisfy your Erudite curiosity," he said. "You get to go first."

"But-" Eric began.

"But," Amar says smoothly, "I am your initiation instructor, and it's in your best interest to do as I say."

Eric looked indecisive whether to protest further, but realised it was stupid to do so. But, to annoy Amar as much as possible, he took of his jacket, folding it and draping it over a chair with careful and slow movements. Bad move, because Amar aggressively stuck the needle into the side of his neck and pushed him into the room beyond the glass, before setting up the equipment to himself and starting the program. The initiates watched as Eric, standing completely still, went through his fears, the only indication of his fears seen on a screen recording his heart rate. I heard Mia whisper to the Abnegation boy, whose name, I remembered from the ceremony, was Tobias something.

"What's going on?" Mia muttered. "Is the serum working?"

He nodded.

Jules saw Eric take a deep breath, whilst his body quivered and shook. Each time, his body strained to react, but his mind forced himself to calm down and his heart rate decreased until Amar skipped to the next one. He had twelve fears. Amar ended the program and Eric relaxed, blinking, then smirking at the window. Jules could tell, like everyone else, that Eric was dangerous. One to watch. She recalled his face at the ceremony when he switched, dangerous and hard. She needed to avoid him.

One by one, each initiate went into the room to face their fears. Counting, Jules saw that they averaged around thirteen and ranged from nine to eighteen. Jules was called in third last, before Mia and the Abnegation boy. She forced herself to stand still as the serum was injected in her, and walked into the room. She had been so busy counting other people's fears that she hadn't even given a thought as to what she would face. The room dissolved.

She was in a hospital bed, and there were nurses and doctors, who were pulling out needle after needle and tubes she knew would go under her skin. She completely panicked, freezing in fear. She heard a heart monitor and remembered what she needed to do. Either control her body, or face her fear. She closed her eyes as the doctors and nurses approached and forced her breathing slow and even, as she had seen Eric do. She felt the bites of the needles, and breathed. Her heart slowed. She had done it! But it wasn't over yet.

The next fear was humiliation. Her friends, her family, her enemies, people she didn't even know were jeering at her naked body. She wanted to cover herself up, but knew that that was not facing her fear. She summoned up every ounce of Dauntless courage and walked onto the stage behind her. She lifted her chin and smiled. "Laugh!" she shouted, over and over.

"LAUGH!"

The scene changed again and she was in a room, alone. She looked at her hands and saw they were wrinkled and shook with age. She wasn't afraid of getting old, was she? No. She looked around and saw that the room was bare. No photographs of family, no wedding ring on the table. A nurse came in and smiled politely at her, but lacked warmth. Being alone- that was what she was afraid of. She couldn't face it, but she could calm her heart. So, eventually, biting back tears, she did.

She faced helplessness, watching as her family and friends died in front of her. She was blind and deaf, not knowing what was happening to her as she was handled roughly, silently and in complete darkness. She saw the sneers of her friends, her parent's disappointed looks because she wasn't loud enough, wasn't honest enough, wasn't truthful enough to be in Candor. She wasn't brave enough, wasn't daring enough, wasn't good enough to be in Dauntless- she realised she feared rejection. Each of them she either faced or calmed her heart down.

Then, the one she had been dreading. She was walking in a dark tunnel, laughing with friends, when someone came and grabbed her arms.

"You're Divergent!" He accused her.

"Is it true?" one of her friends asked.

"No! I don't know what you're talking about!" she tried to tell them, but no-one listened. Her friends looked at her in fear and hatred as she was dragged away. She knew she couldn't face the fear, because that meant admitting she was Divergent. She allowed herself to be dragged, concentrating on her breathing until, finally, she calmed down enough for Amar to end the simulation.

She opened her eyes and saw Amar give her a nod and a smile. "Seven," he told her simply. She was dazed. Seven was very rare. But the smile hadn't reached his eyes. He had to have guessed that she was Divergent from her last fear landscape. But he didn't arrest her on the spot. She walked out shakily to find Zeke, who had gone through the landscape before her, shakily leaning against the wall. He saw her and straightened up quickly, not wanting to admit weakness. But she said nothing, merely gave him a brief smile. His lips quirked in response and he regained his composure.

"Come on, I'll show you to the dining hall," he told her over his shoulder, walking along the tunnel. Jules followed him silently, her heart racing. How was she supposed to keep her Divergence a secret when anyone could see it every time she went through her fear landscape?

"How many did you get?" he asked casually. Zeke had got 8- a very good score.

"Seven," she replied, cautiously. Zeke's eyes widened and he whistled.

"Really? Nice one." He sounded impressed. The cavern was lit from below by blue-white lamps, casting long shadows on the faces of the Dauntless within. They got food together and moved towards the initiates table, where Eric seemed to have impressed everyone and had their attention as he told a funny story. They all guffawed at the conclusion and Adam slapped the table beside him where there was a space for her.

"Hey Julie, come join!" he called. She dumped her tray down.

"My name is Jules now." She told him simply, sitting down.

Zeke sat across from her and they dug in.

"So how many did you get?" Adam asked her. As far as she knew, unless Mia and the Stiff got less, she had the least number of fears this year.

"Seven," she told him in a low voice. But her secret was not going to be a secret, because Adam, in typical Candor fashion, shouted "Seven?! Holy hell, that's awesome!" She rolled her eyes at the impressed murmurs from around the table. She ducked her head, trying to blend in and not draw attention to herself. She was taking George's warning seriously.

When Mia joined them, ashen-faced, Jules was digging in to some absolutely delicious cake, which was the Dauntless speciality. It beat Candor ice-cream hands down, a sentiment which was not shared by Adam, who insisted on arguing it. Jules won it, by grabbing the rest of his cake and stuffing it in her mouth. Everyone laughed except Adam.

Just then, Amar appeared with the Abnegation boy in tow, who collapsed into a chair.

"Jeez, Stiff. You look like you're about to faint," Eric told him, and Josh grinned.

"You all made it out alive," Amar said. "Congratulations. You made it through the first day of initiation, with varying degrees of success." He stared at Eric.

"None of you did as well as Four over here, though."

He pointed at the Abnegation initiate. Jules' eyebrows rose. Did that mean he had four fears?

"Hey, Tori," Amar casually called over his shoulder to a dark-haired woman on a table near us. "You ever hear of anyone having only four fears in their fear landscape?"

"Last I heard, the record was seven or eight. Why?" Tori called back. Jules had got seven, joint record with someone. But not any more. She wouldn't be the one to beat. Good. That meant she could hide.

"I've got a transfer over here with only four fears."

Tori pointed at him, and Amar nodded. She looked impressed.

"That's gotta be a new record," she said, shaking her head.

"Well done," Amar said to Four, clapping him on the back and then walking over to her table. All the initiated stared at Four, Jules' score forgotten, to her relief. She hoped that meant they'd lay off him and take him seriously.

"What's your real name, again? Starts with an E...?" Eric asked him, narrowing his eyes. Wrong. His last name began with E. His name was Tobias. But he was changing his name- Jules didn't care. She had changed her own name.

"My name is Four," he told Eric harshly. "Call me 'Stiff' again and you and I will have a problem."

Eric rolled his eyes, but the point was made. Hopefully, everyone would forget he was just a Stiff and treat him as he was- a Dauntless.

**Please someone comment :( **

**See you next time! :)**


	7. Chapter 7- Curiosity

**Sorry this chapter took so long, various stuff, including writer's block, prevented me. I will be returning to the other characters soon- when I get inspiration, basically. For now though, I'm sticking with Jules, sorry.**

**Chapter 7- Curiosity**

"So, what you're saying, is that you've never, _ever_ told a lie? _Ever_?" Zeke was completely astonished.

"Of course not!" Josh scoffed. "There's a reason I transferred. But my brother never has, at least not as far as I know," he told him, smiling at his look of horror. He slowly shook his head.

"I could never do that," he told the table in general, shuddering. Jules looked on, not saying anything. She had mostly been listening and eating cake. She was also watching all the other initiates and how they reacted, particularly the transfers.

Four was pretty much doing the same thing as her, watching and taking it all in. Mia was smiling in that way that the Amity did, eating cake with obvious enjoyment. Josh was talking about Candor with Zeke, waving his hands in an animated fashion. Adam was listening to them, occasionally adding a comment and rolling his eyes at the things Zeke said. Eric was talking to some of the other initiates, shrugging and laughing, but Jules thought she could see a glint in his eyes- a nasty glint that spelled trouble as he glared at Four. There was definitely trouble brewing.

Amar returned, taking all of their faces in with his eyes.

"Alright, Dauntless-born, clear off. You go with Lauren to the dormitory; me and the transfers are going on a tour."

All the initiates stood up at the same time, and were met by thunderous applause and stamping of feet as they were welcomed to Dauntless. Amar grinned as he led them through a gaping hole in the wall.

"This is the Pit. It's where everything happens." He told them as they walked into a giant cavern. There were people everywhere- talking, laughing and shouting. Jules thought it was as loud as back home in Candor- except this place was now her home. There were walkways cut into the rock, connecting the areas to each other. They had no barriers. Jules looked above her and saw that there was a glass roof that was actually the floor of the buildings above her, letting in light, which was added to by the bluish lamps spaced at irregular intervals that hung above the paths. It was awesome.

Amar led them to where the rocky floor ended in a steel walkway and an iron barrier. The sound of rushing water echoed.

"This is the chasm," Amar raised his voice over the sound of the rushing water. The initiates leaned forward to see where the floor dropped away and, several stories below, a river gushed. It was calm to one side of the barrier, but on the other side, the water was frothed up by the rock, whipped into a frenzy and spraying water so high Jules could feel the spray on her face.

"The chasm reminds all who see it that there is a thin boundary between bravery and idiocy!" Amar shouted. "A reckless jump from the ledge will end your life. It's happened before and will happen again. You have been warned." Jules saw that all the initiates had taken it to heart and looked awed, even scared, although they were all trying to hide it. She was sure she looked the same.

Amar led them through a maze of tunnels that ended in a dark hallway and a wooden door.

"This is your dormitory, where you'll be staying until initiation is over. You need to be in the training room by eight every morning. Training will end at six, with a break for lunch. After then, it's up to you, but you can only leave the compound with another Dauntless. All six of you made it here- normally, at least one has already dropped out. You will be trained in three stages- the first is physical and you will be trained separately to the Dauntless-born initiates. The second is emotional, and the third, which you have already experienced once, is the combination of the two. Out of the sixteen of you initiates, only twelve will become Dauntless. That means that four of you will be dropped. After each stage, you will be ranked- one after the first and second rounds, and two after the third."

Jules heard the gasps of the other initiates, but merely nodded, folding her arms and frowning. This was Dauntless- the faction that had got itself a reputation for cruelty. Jules imagined that the Dauntless made up the highest proportion of Factionless. Amar opened the door and they all filed in to the

"I suggest you get a good night's sleep- you have training tomorrow. Goodnight, initiates."

He left them alone in the room, which had ten beds. They all scrambled for a bed, luckily all different ones, and took turns in the shared bathroom to change into the Dauntless-provided nightclothes and went to bed. But not Jules. She wanted to explore. And to escape her churning thoughts. So, when she heard the peaceful breathing of her fellow initiates, she got up silently and changed back into her Candor clothes, leaving her white jacket behind so her black-and-white Candor clothes became black Dauntless clothes. It wasn't quite the same style, but it would help her blend in. She tiptoed out of the room and found her way through the maze of corridors, trying to remember the way Amar had taken them there. Eventually, she made it to the pit. She looked around, seeing that there were more people around than she had expected, at this late hour.

Her feet took her to the chasm, where she hoped the water's rushing would drown out her racing thoughts. It didn't. The two sides of the bridge- one with the lazily swirling currents, the other with the furiously churning water- made her think of her own mind. Her feet moved again and she found herself climbing the rough rock steps towards the glass roof. Seeing that there were a lot of people there already, she retraced her steps and wandered around, unsure of where to go, just knowing that she had to move. She blinked, and saw she was at the net, where she had landed just a few hours ago. She climbed onto it and looked up at the starry sky through the hole. She couldn't run away from her thoughts. She had to face them, like a Dauntless.

What did it mean to be Divergent? Why was she special? What was wrong with her? What if she had chosen wrong? What if she had made a huge mistake by choosing the faction where she could be thrown out any minute?

Why had she chosen Dauntless?

She checked her watch. It read 00.34. She had to get back. Sighing, she realised that she had no idea how to answer the questions which spun endlessly in her head. She found her way back to the dormitory and, removing her shoes, slumped into bed, fully clothed, drifting into sleep almost immediately.


	8. Chapter 8- Steep learning curves

**Chapter 8- Steep learning curves**

She woke to the sound of Amar's shout.

"Come on you lot. Up. You have training at eight." He left, leaving the transfer initiates to scramble for the training clothes left underneath their beds. Once they were changed and ready, they all left for breakfast together, yawning loudly on Josh's part. Jules was tired from her wander last night, but was awake. They made their way to the dining hall, led by Eric, who, as a typical Erudite and knew exactly where they had gone the night before and led them through the maze with ease. Jules could have led it, but what would have been the point? She was keeping a low profile.

They ate a big fried breakfast in the canteen, Mia laughing at Four's amazement that food could be so nice. Jules guessed that they ate simple foods in Abnegation- she remembered Four had been suspicious of the burger yesterday. But there was an underlying current of trepidation and nervousness about what they would face in training.

When they made their way to the training room with five minutes to spare, Amar wasted no time. He picked up a box of guns and handed them round to everyone.

"This morning, you will learn how to shoot a gun properly." He told everyone, grabbing one for himself. "If you do badly in the first round, it is still possible to improve your rank in the following stages as each stage is not ranked equally. Because we're doing things differently this year, whilst you will be trained separately to the Dauntless-born initiates, to determine your rank, you will fight with them in different combinations, so that we can determine your rank alongside them. You will not be treated any differently to them, nor have any concession for you because you're a transfer. The only thing we will take into consideration is your gender, however, where possible, you will be paired with your own gender. Not among transfer training sessions though- Mia and Jules, you will be expected to fight all the boys. However, that does not necessarily mean that you will be last even if you lose to all of the boys- we take into account more than just strength."

Amar showed everyone how to load the gun and got them to load and reload it until everyone could do it smoothly and quickly. Then, he turned to face a wall with a row of targets.

"Watch how I do it and then copy me," he told them. Holding the gun in both hands, feet planted firmly, he squeezed the trigger and fired the gun. The bang was quieter than Jules expected, but still loud. Looking to the target, she saw a hole in the centre of the target.

Walking to her own target, she blocked out everything else around her and raised her gun. She knew that guns recoiled, which was why Amar had held it with two hands. Preparing herself, she slid the safety catch off and, aiming at the target, squeezed the trigger. The recoil was hard, but she was prepared for it and didn't step back as the others did when they fired their weapons. She looked at the target and saw that the bullet had just clipped the edge of the target.

"Good," Said Amar as he passed, "but try aiming very slightly lower than you want to hit. The recoil of the gun is slightly upward, so until you're completely used to it, aim lower- by a few degrees." Jules tried again, repositioning her feet and shaking out her hand that had gone numb from the recoil. Furrowing her brows in concentration, she aimed, both eyes open, and fired. The bullet hit closer to the centre of the target than before.

"Better." Amar nodded. "Don't close one eye," he told Eric, moving over to him. "You need two eyes to gauge distances properly." Watching the others, Jules saw that she had been the closest so far. They carried on shooting, moving on to moving targets halfway through the morning, until lunchtime. Jules' fingers tingled from the explosion caused by the gun and her fingers were stiff from being clenched around the gun all morning. But she knew this afternoon would be worse, when they would learn how to fight.

After lunch, they went to a new room, which was huge. It had a wooden floor with a large circle in the middle. Hanging from the ceiling, there were also some punching bags, hanging at equal intervals, and Jules saw a chalkboard at the side. Their names were on the board.

"This afternoon," Amar told them, shaking Jules from her reverie, "you will learn how to fight. Why? Well, obviously Dauntless is a faction that protects others, but also, even if you don't end up on the fence, you need to learn to fight to be brave. To be brave you must stand up for people. To stand up, you need confidence. To have confidence, you need to know that you _can_ face whatever is against you. And you do that by learning how to fight."

The afternoon passed in a blur of punches and kicks. Amar showed them various techniques and had them practice on the bags. By dinner, Jules' arms and legs were aching and she was ravenous.

Joining the Dauntless-born initiates at their table, Jules saw that they looked just as tired as she felt. She dropped into a seat between Zeke and Shauna and tucked into her food without a word.

"Training hard then?" Zeke enquired. Without pausing, Jules nodded.

"Yours?" she asked.

"Horrible." He replied. "I ache all over. I ache in places I didn't even know I had muscles." Shauna laughed.

"As stupid as that sounds, it's still true. What did you guys do?"

Four, who had sat on the other side of Zeke, answered for her.  
"We shot guns in the morning and learned how to fight in the afternoon. Apparently we have to fight you lot as well as the transfers?"

"Yeah, we heard that too," Lexi piped up. "They're doing stuff differently this year."

"Lexi, we _were_ all there when Amar told us," Shauna sighed and raised an eyebrow at Lexi.

"Well, I didn't know it would be _that_ different," she defended herself.

"True," Zeke replied, "but it makes no difference to me. It just means I'll be whipping you lot's butts as well as my lot," he joked.

"You mean you'll get beaten up by six more people!" Four told him, teasingly.

"Woah!" Zeke faked surprise. "The Stiff told a joke!" Everyone laughed, but they weren't laughing _at_ Four this time. Jules was glad that Zeke had included Four- she didn't like to see anyone bullied.

"I'm surprised the Stiff can speak, let alone joke," Eric sneered.

"Leave off!" Jules and Zeke both shouted at the same time. Four merely glared at Eric, his arms folded defiantly.

"Okay, everyone, just calm down," Mia told them, her Amity habits coming through. Everyone stared at her and she blushed. "Sorry, old habits," she muttered. Four just stood up and took his tray to the station, before walking out.

"What do you have against him, Eric?" Jules asked softly.

"He's a stupid Stiff, that's what!" Eric replied, aggressively.

"Not anymore," Jules replied and got up too. She was followed by Shauna, Mia and Zeke, who had finished as well.

"Hey, do you want to find some decent clothes?" Shauna asked Mia and Juliette. They nodded and Shauna led them to her favourite store, where she was greeted warmly by the shopkeeper, who was called El.

"What sort of style are you going for?" Shauna asked them both. Exchanging a glance, they both shrugged.

"All I know is I don't want anything yellow or red," Mia grinned and walked off to browse. Jules awkwardly shrugged again.

"My mom always chose my stuff and I wasn't allowed to wear makeup- my parents think that wearing pretty clothes and makeup is deception, trying to make yourself look better than you are. So I have no clue, except I want to wear all black." El moved over, and stood, looking over her for several seconds, biting her lip, before nodding.

"I'll choose some stuff for you to try on. What's your size, honey?"

Jules told her, feeling distinctly uncomfortable at having clothes chosen for her, but still glad fro the help. Shauna went off to find her some makeup, and telling her, at Jules' protests, that she needed new mascara anyway. El came back with an armful of black items and directed her to a small room to try on.

Separating them, Jules saw pants, shirts, boots, a jacket and a dress. There were two pairs of tight black pants, one leather, and the black button-down shirt that was tied at the bottom, meaning it would show her midriff. The dress was short and hung loose to the hips but ended in a tight, stretchy skirt at the bottom. El had also given her a pair of matte black combat boots and a leather jacket that zipped off-centre, along with a baggy vest. They were all black and had not a trace of any other colour, as some of the Dauntless clothing did. She loved them all, especially the boots. Mentally assessing her points and counting the items, she smiled as she realised she had more than enough for all of them. Quickly trying each one to make sure it fit, she gulped at the amount of skin she was baring. Her mother would have a fit! But she wasn't in Candor and this outfit was tame compared to what some of the other Dauntless wore. Although she was a little nervous about the dress, which barely came down to her mid-thigh, she wanted to fit in, so she got the lot.

Thanking El for finding such fabulous clothes, she met Shauna and Mia, who had even more clothes than Jules. Shauna found a mirror and showed Jules how to put on mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow and lipstick, applying them for her and explaining the technique. Insisting that she keep them and refusing her offer of payment, Shauna paid for both her own and Juliette's makeup. At Shauna's insistence, Jules changed into her new clothes and she chose the leather pants, boots and shirt, reluctantly leaving the jacket as it was too warm. Shauna smiled and dug out a hairtie, securing Juliette's long hair in a high ponytail.

They met up with Zeke, who had been looking at getting a piercing but had decided against it. When he saw them, his eyes widened slightly. Jules realised that she was the only one that had changed much since he last saw them and blushed as Zeke wolf-whistled, nodding as they headed to the tattoo parlour. Mia had decided to get a tattoo of the Dauntless symbol on her shoulder and Shauna wanted to scope out some designs for another one on her arm. As they were walking down, Mia with Jules slightly ahead and Zeke and Shauna hanging back, she heard Zeke mutter "she looks even more hot now," to her. It seemed she had sensitive hearing, because Mia raised her eyebrows at Jules' blush, not having heard the remark. She shook her head as they entered to the tattoo parlour and Mia moved to talk to Budd, the tattoo artist who was a walking advert for the parlour. Jules walked over to the displays of hundreds upon hundreds of tattoos.

"See anything you like?" the voice behind her made her jump. She turned to see a woman whose only visible tattoo was a bird on her neck. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she continued. "I'm Tori. Do you want a tattoo?" Jules thought for a moment.

"I want to get a tattoo that really means something; I just need to figure out what, so not yet." Tori smiled.

"Take your time. A tattoo is a very private and important symbol for some people. Is your friend getting one?"

"Yes, Mia wants the Dauntless symbol." She was being led to the side by Budd, who got his stuff ready. It seemed Mia was having it on her right shoulder blade.

Jules saw Four enter the parlour and look around for someone. When he saw Tori, he walked determinedly over and Tori greeted him. It seemed she had been his tester for the aptitude tests.

"I want a tattoo," he told Tori, "but it may take a while, because I think it will end up big."  
"Okay, let's talk about it in the back," she told him, leading him off.

Once Mia was done, with strict instructions from Budd about when to wash it and take the bandage off, and Shauna had a few ideas to mull over, they decided to turn in. It wasn't that late, but they all agreed they needed to keep their strength up in preparation for the fights the next day. Jules was pretty sure she had worked out the pairings- she would be against Mia, Josh and Adam would be against each other, which left Four and Eric to be the final pair. Jules was sure that would be a fight to remember.

**What do you think? Please comment! See you next time :)**


	9. Chapter 9- Intelligence

**Hi everyone, sorry about the really long wait, I've written an extra-long chapter to make up for it- hope you like it and please comment.**

**Chapter 9- Intelligence**

Jules didn't go to sleep, just slipped on her boots, already fully clothed, and went to explore again. She wandered through endless mazes of tunnels/corridors used for apartments, cafés, shops, meeting rooms and a glimpse of a control room with a bank of screens.

As she was wandering, she thought she saw someone she recognised. It was George, the Dauntless who had administered her test. Sure that she wasn't allowed to be sneaking around after bed, she attempted to melt into the shadows as he passed her, laughing with one of his friends. Pausing and telling them to go on without him, Jules knew that he had seen her, but wasn't going to alert everyone to her presence.

"Hey there, I thought you wouldn't listen to my advice," he told her, smiling a little and moving into the shadows where Jules was to maintain the secrecy.

"I guess I'm just too stubborn," she shrugged with a small smile of her own.

"Come with me," he told her, leading her through a few corridors until they reached a dark corner of the loud Pit. Jules realised that he had led her there so that they wouldn't be overheard over the bustling noise and activity going on below them, even at this time of night.

Pulling her to a stop, George glanced around, biting his lip-ring nervously, and ran a hand through his sandy-blonde hair.

"You want some advice." Jules nodded, although he hadn't phrased it as a question.

"Okay, so as you know, there are three stages. I can't say what stage two is about, but that is the most dangerous for you. My advice is to make sure you stay in the middle of the pack during stage two, remembering that you _must not_ show your Divergence. Because the Dauntless leaders are on the lookout for anyone who shoots to the top during stage two, meaning they'll find you out." He paused, glancing around. "Don't draw attention to yourself, act and think like a Dauntless. Go to Tori at the tattoo parlour, she can be trusted, but don't trust anyone else. Got it?" Jules nodded once and turned to go, but George stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Oh and Jules? Good luck with fights tomorrow." He smiled once and Jules slipped off, her mind racing. What could stage two be?

Jules wanted to get to the room above the pit again but found herself outside a library. She wondered what the Dauntless would have books on- fighting, probably. Peering around the door, she saw that there was someone still there, a librarian, even though it was midnight. She looked around and smiled.

"Hello there! I haven't seen you around, are you an initiate?" Jules wasn't sure whether she was supposed to be snooping around at night, but nodded, her Candor compulsion to tell the truth making an appearance.

"Lovely! Take a look around, you can borrow anything you like, just make sure you return it within a month or come and see me to extend the loan. Are you a transfer?" Jules nodded shyly and made her way over to where the woman sat at her desk. She was old for a Dauntless, and Jules saw hints of grey hair at her temples.

"I thought so- It normally is only the Erudite who come in here," the woman smiled. "Oh I'm so sorry! My name is Ruth, and you are…?"

"Jules." She didn't bother to correct Ruth's assumption that she was from Erudite.

"Very nice to meet you, Jules. Are you looking for something in particular?"

"Yes. Do you have many books on fighting technique?"

"This is Dauntless library- of course we do!" She laughed. "Just over there." She pointed out a large shelf at the back of the small room. Jules wandered over and stared at the spines, biting her lip. She picked out four on basic combat skills and one specifically on fighting stronger and bigger opponents. Jules wasn't tall; in fact she was very short, at only 5 foot 3. Nevertheless, not all of the initiates were taller than her, but then again, all of them had more muscle. Jules was slight, but she wasn't as weak as she looked- she had played a fair amount of sport at school. Glancing around, she picked up a fiction novel, a book for kids really, and made her way to the desk. Ruth wrote the titles and her name on two pieces of paper, giving one to Jules and keeping one.

"I love 'The Wind in the Willows'," she told her, smiling.

"Thank you very much," Jules told her as she gathered the books in her arms. Now she had the books, she needed somewhere to study.

She walked around, checking out the new places she had explored that night and the previous night, ruling each one out. Eventually, she found herself at the net again, where she had been last night. It was darker than some of the places she had seen, but the light was just about good enough to read by and she wouldn't be disturbed here. Settling herself down with her books, she began to read, immersing herself in punches and fighting. She was itching to try out her new moves, especially as she would be fighting tomorrow.

She made her way to the training room, hanging up a punch-bag and beginning to practice. She carried on for as long as she could stand it, until her arms were aching and her knuckles red. Heading back to the dormitory, she saw Four on the way. It looked like he had come from the direction of the room where they had seen their fears. Coming up behind him, she hoped she wouldn't startle him.

"Hey. Been practicing?" He still jumped, despite her soft words.

"Yeah," he replied warily.

"Me too. Got to get ahead somehow," she told him as they walked down the corridor. She pulled her hair away from her damp neck, thankful of the cool passage. Four seemed to relax a little at her words. They reached the door but Jules, with uncharacteristic boldness, blocked the way.

"Look, _Tobias_, I don't need to know why you're so desperate for others to forget where you come from. I know I'm supposed to be a nosy Candor, but I don't need to know why- I don't want to pry. But whatever happened in Abnegation, you're not there any more. You can be who you want to be. Basically," she cringed at her next, extremely cliché words, "I got your back, _Four_." Four regarded her with serious eyes and folded arms. He nodded and Jules stepped out of the way to let him past. Of course he wouldn't let his guard down completely, but Jules hoped he knew that he had someone on his side in the most dangerous faction of all. And Jules had a sneaking suspicion he might be Divergent as well.

The next morning, everyone was nervous for their first fight. Jules couldn't help staring at Mia, sizing her up and trying to see her weaknesses. She was taller than Jules, meaning she would have a longer reach, and because the Amity's work was mostly manual labour, Mia was stronger than her. That left speed. It was difficult to tell how fast someone was just by looking, but Jules knew she was fast, and hopefully faster than Mia. That would be her main advantage- she had noticed that she was the only transfer and one of the few initiates who had been able to land on their feet jumping from the train. That meant she probably had more balance and co-ordination than the other transfers. But then, she was left-handed- she had been careful to use both her hands equally in training so she could keep it a surprise, so that could be another advantage for her. Shaking her head, she reminded herself to act Dauntless, rather than analyse people like Erudite and scrutinise them like Candor.

Zeke plopped his tray down next to her and sat down heavily, sighing.

"What's up?" Josh, who was sitting the other side of the table, shovelling down eggs, enquired.

"Nervous for fights today?" Jules asked.

"No!" Zeke was quick to deny it, but Jules knew he was lying.

"You so are!" She replied, seeing it in his face, her Candor lie-detecting skills serving her well. She smirked at his narrowed eyes but maintained an innocent expression.

"You are not Candor, in fact, you left it, so I can safely assume that your lie-detecting skills are rubbish, because I am so pumped for the fights!" He pointed a finger at her and Jules laughed.

Four, looking pale, had joined Zeke's other side and gave a small grin at Juliette's successful attempt to wind Zeke up. She could tell Four was definitely nervous. He had nothing to worry about though. Whilst he didn't have a lot of muscle, unlike Eric, he was tall and she thought that Four would be able to find the motivation to win the fight.

All six of them got to the training room at the same time, where Amar was waiting, his arms folded and his face impassive. Seeing the board with their names on, next to someone else, Jules saw that she had been right about all the pairings.

"Josh and Adam will fight first, followed by Mia and Jules, then Eric and Four. You fight until either one of you is unable to continue, or one of you concedes. Josh, Adam, step up."

Jules paid careful attention to their fight, trying to work out each of their strengths and weaknesses. Adam was fast, which wasn't good for Jules as that was her main strength, but she noticed he was sometimes a little sloppy when defending himself, creating openings that Josh had no trouble exploiting. Josh worried Jules more. Whilst he was slower than Adam, he showed no mercy and was quick to spot any gap his opponent left him and would use it without blinking. The fight ended up with Adam on the floor, bleeding through his mouth and Josh, whilst it was clear to everyone that Adam was finished, kept kicking his side and battering him, until Amar's quiet voice cut through the grunts.

"Enough." Although he spoke quietly, his voice was authoritative and Josh stopped immediately.

"I said, fight until one of you cannot continue. Adam was done. You should have stopped." He called over a Dauntless initiate from the other side of the room. "Ben, take Adam to the med room, will you?" Supporting Adam under his arms, Ben wordlessly helped Adam out of the room. Amar moved to the board with their names and circled Josh's.

"Jules and Mia." Finishing her stretches and warm-up she had been doing during the boys' fight, Jules stepped onto the platform with Mia.

"Look, Jules. No hard feelings, okay? No holding back." She nodded, glad to hear that Mia knew that whatever happened in the ring was just fighting and that it wouldn't affect their friendship. They both raised their hands up to defend their face and for Jules, everything else apart from Mia's face receded. She barely heard Amar's instruction to begin she was so focussed, and waited for Mia to make the first move.

She watched Mia, whose face was scrunched up in concentration, and saw her eyes dart to her shoulder, where she would aim her punch, a split second before her arm moved. Stepping back, Jules avoided the half-assed first attempt and retaliated before Mia had time to readjust, since the punch had left her left side open. Striking as fast as she could, she aimed for the same place Mia had- her shoulder. She connected, but knew that it was not hard enough to do much damage, and it had jarred her wrist slightly. Luckily she had punched with her right hand, so her left was undamaged. Mia's eyes shifted again and Jules ducked to avoid her fist, aimed for her jaw this time. Realising that they were both taking single shots, Jules aimed her right fist for Mia's side, which she knew would be blocked, and her left, a split second later, went for her stomach. This time, her punch was strong enough to knock Mia off-balance, and she wasted no time aiming a kick to the legs to take her down, but Mia had recovered too quickly and grabbed Juliette's arm, keeping her balance.

They traded blows for a long time, Jules lost count of how long. All she was aware of was attacks, defences and counterattacks. Finally, Jules saw her opening. Mia had left her face completely unprotected, focussed on aiming for Jules' thigh, although Jules saw she was attempting to feint towards her face. Instead of moving out of the way of Mia's fist, she stepped under Mia's guard, using her short stature, and brought her fist up hard on Mia's jaw, straightening up in the process.

Watching, Jules saw the light leave her eyes as Mia was knocked out, and she quickly dived towards her to catch Mia before she hit her head on the ground. This time, Amar told them all to stay put and carried a now groggy Mia towards the hospital block. Almost as soon as Amar left, Eric sidled up to Jules, smiling.

"Nice one, Candor! Amity never had a chance, I saw those calculating eyes of yours seeing every move before it was made!" Jules was not smiling. She was horrified- she had just knocked out her friend! She saw, with disgust, how much Eric relished the violence, and hoped, for Four's sake, that he was fast enough to avoid him- she had no doubt Eric was even more ruthless than Josh. Even worse, Eric, the Erudite transfer, had seen her using her Eruditeness to calculate each move and probably saw her using her Candor body language classes to predict each of Mia's moves.

She made no answer to Eric, merely crossed her arms with a stony expression. She realised her knuckles really hurt and resolved to find the med unit to get her wrist looked at. She caught Four's eye and he gave her an impassive nod, which she took for a 'well done'. It wasn't like Eric's though- Four looked like he wasn't impressed by the violence. Of course he wasn't, he was Abnegation before, although he looked like he wanted to hide it. Whilst Jules had been able to see the traits of their original faction in all the other transfers, Four seemed determined to hide all trace of his previous faction. Jules didn't blame him- she wouldn't want to be known as a former Stiff for the rest of her life.

Amar returned, circling the winner's name on the blackboard- Jules', before calling Eric and Four forward. Eric walked to the ring with a cocky swagger, smirking confidently. Four just walked. He was barely in the ring before Eric lunged at him, catching Four by surprise and hitting him hard in the jaw. Jules was sure it would leave a large bruise. Frowning, she saw as Eric used his intelligence to strategically place blows that caught Four time and time again. His face was set in a hard scowl of concentration, interspersed with a cruel smile when his blows hit. Long past the time when any other person would have given up, Four continued, wiping blood from his lip and landing a few hits, but barely one for every ten of Eric's, and they didn't have the same power. Jules realised that Four's strength was by far the most dangerous- he would never give up. He took countless blows, but instead of submitting to Eric's strength, he shook each hit off with a determined expression.

What kind of Abnegation skill it was to endure so much violence without breaking?

Finally, Eric was raining punches and kicks down on Four, who was hunched over slightly, recoiling from the blows. Jules moved closer, without meaning to, wanting to stop the violence and Eric's vindictive pleasure. So she had a good view of the change in Four's eyes- they hardened and clouded over with anger. Eric had pushed him over the line- no more was he the Abnegation Stiff Tobias, who cringed under blows- no, he was Four, his very nickname showing his strength. He straightened up, unheeding of the viciously smirking Eric's blows, and looked him dead in the eye, before raising his fists, slowly and with much effort, to hide his face from the hits. But it was a pretence, because the next second, Four, in similar fashion to Jules, straightened up and punched Eric, hard, in the head. Eric went down, not quite knocked unconscious, but unable to carry on the fight- Four had won. Eric, blinking slowly, groggily tried to sit up, but Four placed his boot on Eric's chest, preventing him from moving. He remained there, motionless, until Amar circled Four's name and quietly told Eric to get up.

The blazing fire of anger in Four's eyes was gone and he turned away from Amar, Eric, Josh and Jules. Four had seen Eric's weakness- his arrogance- and had used it to his advantage.

"You're free until after lunch," Amar told them, before leaving with a still-groggy Eric, Josh trailing after them. Jules hesitated, turning back at the door to look at Four, still unmoving, and opened her mouth to say something, but closed her mouth, shaking her head, and left him alone, staring at his knuckles.

**I will get on to the other characters very soon, probably next chapter. See you next time! :)**


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